Eventually they chose to settle in a private room in a "diner"

A diner which was clearly made to discuss secret matters, given the simple sound isolation magic circles which were set up and a button to be used when they wanted to call up service.

In other words, they had the privacy they needed to discuss important subjects with the promise of privacy.

It was a large round table in a square room which gave them plenty of space to maneuver, appreciated by those with wings and tails.

Half of the table disappeared behind the wall, supposedly part of the rotating food bar the restaurant offered.

Alexandria was sitting next to Olivia, with the latter having been dragged by the ear to their seats.

Achil and Frodo sat down next to the respective women which made for an interesting reflection.

Panda had managed to secure his own seat, much to the amusement of the waiter there.

In mountain city, smart familiars weren't rare, but that didn't make the image any less amusing.

Richard and Ellie were sitting next to one another, between Panda and Frodo.

Frodo was a priestly young man, with the appearance of a young teenager, yet had the kind and patient aura that many of the Order of Isis.

He hardly looked like a dwarf, something he connected to his fathers side, who had been an elf, resulting in the softer faces that dwarves rarely had.

Currently, he was being rather patient with Alexandria.

"I hope my Olivia hasn't been causing too much trouble." She said in a friendly tone,ignoring the offended look Olivia had shot her.

Frodo shook his head gently as he denied this. "Of course not. Olivia might be a little lively, but she has never been a trouble." He said with a simple smile. "Not for me." He added in softly, as he held her hand gently.

Olivia shot her "aunt" a victorious look, while sister Alexandria sighed. "Alright. If she causes any trouble, you let me know, alright? I'm always ready to give this unruly brat of mine a lesson." she said, assuring the young dwarf.

Ellie butted in, more curious about their lack of reaction. "So why weren't you guys surprised to see Richard?" she asked, unsure why the pair had shown such a lackluster reaction to the reappearance of a dead friend.

They hadn't even blinked, being more happy to see him than surprised.

Olivia shrugged. "Big mama sent down a revelation. Ow!" She exclaimed as Alexandria flicked her forehead strongly. "What?!" She complained.

Richard looked surprised, as did Ellie. "You mean Isis sent down a revelation?" He asked tentatively.

Frodo nodded. "Indeed. Just yesterday we received a revelation that from Isis that Richard had been reborn in new form. Apparently a rather familiar one." He noted thoughtfully, comparing Lysandre's wings with Richard's.

"You became a dragonewt?" He asked, seemingly amused by something, with Olivia jumping in teasingly. "Gee, I wonder why you chose that form?~" She teased.

Richard merely deadpanned, ignoring their implications. "Actually, I'm a dragon currently." leaving his friends stunned.

Panda looked over. "Didn't even bother hiding it, huh."

"Why would I? Would it be any more surprising than the revelation that I'm back from the dead? Or for that matter, that I'm traveling with a wyrm right now?" He turned over and pointed at Achil. "He's a dragon too, by the way." he said, casually dropping another major bombshell.

This one was a surprise, but sadly was overshadowed by all the other issues at hand.

Ellie had a weird look on her face as many thoughts went through her head.

For one thing, the fact that he had become a dragon.

Him being reborn put a lot of things into perspective, especially with the wyrm in the room.

Why had she appeared to guard Richard who had seemed to be a dragonewt at first glance?

It was because he wasn't. He was a dragon, as well as the young child next to him. A wyrm going out of their way to help a dragonewt didn't make much sense but a wyrm helping two hatchlings? That made far more sense.

Wyrms may dislike dragons, but they'll rarely go out of their way to harm hatchlings, being more inclined to protecting them and sometimes attempting to convince them to evolve into wyrms themselves.

And despite how much Olivia grumbled about her great-great-grandmother, she clearly held great affection for her.

She just wasn't comfortable with her yet.

"Wow. You've had quite the adventure then, I venture?" Olivia asked.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Richard nodded, as he stated writing an order in for food. The restaurant had a remote order function, causing Richard to be quite curious.

He'd read that dwarf towns always had new and fascinating functions. This rotating food bar seemed very in character.

He wasn't the only one, as the others quickly made their orders as well.

"It's been an interesting year or so. I also saw Leo just a few weeks ago" Richard responded offhandedly, ignorant of the rapid change in expression two women had at this moment.

"You saw him first? " Olivia asked with surprise, with Ellie also expressing surprise, given that Richard hadn't mentioned this at all.

Wait...

"Did he know?" Ellie piped up, immediately suspicious. Leo had met Richard before her? But he had said he'd be going to the Ymir range to train.

"He did seem to know already." Richard said plainly, unaware of the rigid feeling sister Ellie gave off.

She wasn't the only one suspicious. "Aunty, didn't you tell me that your mansion resides in the Ymir range?" Olivia asked casually, but the popping veins on her fist said otherwise.

"Yes. It's where Richard was reborn. Why do you ask?" Sister Alexandria responded indifferently, but how could she not notice the reaction on the face of the two women? Her eyes had a glint of mischievousness as the mature wyrm found herself in a humorous position.

"I'm going to need to have a... "talk" with him when we see him again." Ellie said, already imagining the poor would-be- paladin sitting on a washboard when she saw him again.

"I'm going to beat the crap outta him when I see him again!" Olivia fumed openly, realizing that Leo had likely already known during the funeral, and yet had made no comment at the time.

----------------------------------------

"Achoo!" Leo sneezed suddenly, though he quickly attributed it to the dust in the air, remnants of the great battle that had just taken place.

Copernicus came over frowning as he heard the sneeze. ""Uh-oh, sounds like you're in trouble." He said seriously, to the confusion of the young paladin.

"I did not take you as a man of suspicion sir. " He said stiffly, but Copernicus scolded him. "It ain't superstition for us Leo. You forget that as her paladins, we are blessed with great health. Only in cases of great disease are we affected. Or someone is talking bad about us."

Leo frowned. "Ridiculous. If that were the case, then who could it be? I haven't even done anything publicly yet."

Copernicus gave him a funny look. "If Richard is your father, then Lysandre is like your mother right?"

Before Leo could refute, Copernicus added. "Did you tell mama that daddy wasn't dead yet?"

Leo's face dawned with horrified realization. "Oh no...."

----------------------------------------

Frodo merely smiled quietly, but sent a mental message to the young boy Achil across from him.

'I hope you've learned a valuable lesson at this moment.' The young elf sent out, seeking to educate the child ear him, to hopefully not end up like poor Leo

Achil responded bluntly. 'Women scary when mad' And indeed Achil had learned the dangers of a woman.

Frodo smiled quietly, though his shoulder was bumped by a frowning Olivia, who complained. "I hate when you do that mental thing and talk behind me like that."

"I'm sorry, I was wrong." He said innocently, hugging her with an adorable look on his face, as Olivia frowned, unable to get upset at her boyfriend, sighing as she hugged him tightly..

"So what has the marquis been up to in mountain city?" Richard asked Frodo, and the short priest frowned from within the stranglehold.

"Nothing huge, mostly low level crimes. Though, there are rumors." He noted before adding the last thought.

"Wait you're the one who does the infiltrating?" Panda asked, surprised. "You don't look the type."

Frodo sighed. "Did you expect Olivia to do it."

The squirrel turned to look at olivia before nodding thoughtfully. "You're right, what was I thinking."

"Why you!-"

"-What rumors?" Richard interrupted, unwilling to allow them to get int a spat, believing the two could probably go at it for a while.

Ding! As they spoke, the strong aroma of roasted meat wafted into the roam as the meals entered.

Most of them had ordered meat, though Frodo, Achil, and Panda had chosen more vegan oriented options.

It was interesting how the smell had appeared suddenly, indicating that the room had likely been made with smell proofing weaved into the magic circle made in the room. Dwarves were always rather innovative.

Food wasn't half bad either, being pretty tasty, and large, appropriate for a dwarves appetite. Beer was also served, free of charge, though Richard wasn't allowed to have any, nor his familiars. Whether it be this life or the last, the boy was unfortunately too young to enjoy the pleasure of beer.

Olivia gnawed on a turkey leg as she responded. "Kidnappings seem to occur commonly in the area they're working in, but no investigations have taken place. Probably due to a lack of evidence rather than corruption, but either way it hardly matters. Anything we say next is speculation."

"What makes you think it's a lack of evidence?" Sister Alexandria asked curiously.

"Because one of the people who disappeared is a famous writer from the Australian Federation. His disappearance caused a huge disruption. Que M. Ongas and his wife went missing, and she's half Arachne. Both went missing after reportedly investigating the mountain for scientific reasons. Obviously they were heavily investigated, but ultimately nothing was made of it. So yeah, corruption is unlikely."

Frodo nodded. "People think that the marquis has made great effort to hide it, and may have even invited a formation master to avoid the prying eyes of the dwarf masters here."

"That's random." Panda commented.

"That's related to the recent appearance of a refining master who's moved in with a weaponsmith. Been talk of the town, and certainly inspired rumors."

Panda looked at Frodo with more and more appreciation. "You know a lot for a priest. Damn!"

Ellie explained. "Brother Frodo has always had a good pair of ears and a slippery tongue."

"~yeah he does~"Olivia commented.

Panda complained. "Gross."

"Ow!"- Olivia

"Better."

"Well then,I suppose it is best that we investigate what marquis Thorsten has been up to." Richard said straightforwardly, yet there was a hint of eagerness and spite in the statement.

"We might not find anything you know." Frodo pointed out, and went on "Dwarves are nothing to underestimate. They may not be great at magic circles, but they're still skilled at magic. If they couldn't find anything, the the chances of us finding anything is minimal at best."

Olivia disagreed. "When it was just you, me and Lizzie here, you would've been right, but luckily we have help here. Right Auntie?" She said as she elbowed sister Alexandria who had been enjoying a steak.

"Well, I suppose I dabble a little in magic circles and formations." She said casually, and yet there was quite the glint in her eye, clearly confident in her own ability.

She was a wyrm after all. "Dabbling" for a being who could live for millenia was a little more than merely dabbling. A wyrm dabbling in something, especially magic, could easily outclass masters who had spent their whole life studying a certain field of magic.

"What about the body?" Ellie asked. "Did they see it?"

Frodo nodded. "Though it wasn't paraded openly they didn't hide it ether. The body was seen by workers who were hired to bring things into the warehouse amongst other things."

"Well what are we waiting for?!" Panda exclaimed as he stood up, fried chestnuts stuffed into his mouth.

"Leths gghoo fugh them uphhh!" He shouted.

"Chew!" Richard complained exasperated.